The customary method of notation with respect to drum scores is to use conventional ruled music paper, and provide thereon notation similar to conventional musical notation, except that the conventional oval body of each note is ordinarily replaced by an "X" or the like to indicate that no particular pitch is intended, other than the normal pitch inherent in the construction of the drum. When a variety of percussion instruments are to be played by a single player, for example a trap drummer, an indication of which of the percussion instruments involved is to be employed for any particular stroke may be provided by providing multiple staves, one for each of the instruments, or by written directions on a single stave. It should be noted at this point that the present discussion excludes from consideration those percussion instruments which are selectively tunable such as orchestral tympani, glockenspiels, xylophones, pianos and the like.
These conventional methods of notation have proven entirely suitable for the scoring of individual selections such as band music or orchestral selections. However, they suffer from certain disadvantages. In particular, each such selection requires the provision of a separate sheet of notation, which is wasteful when applied to practice lessons, wherein each rhythmic pattern or percussive effect to be learned must either be purchased as such, or written down manually on music paper by the student or his instructor. Moreover, reliance on purchased notation or manually-recorded notation interferes with the flexibility of allowing the student, or the instructor, to readily rearrange the notation, so as to experiment with novel rhythmic and percussive effects.